We are at a free dock in Great Bridge, VA, part of Chesapeake, VA. Now that's not Chesapeake City which is in MD. I don't know why it's Chesapeake since we are no longer on Chesapeake Bay, we are in the ICW.
Great Bridge is a nice little spot. Walking distance to groceries and library and it's FREE to tie up here. Room for 6-7 boats. It's between Great Bridge Lock and Great Bridge bridge. Confused? You can look it up. Significant Revolutionary War battle fought here.
Last Saturday we left Annapolis intending to get to Solomons, MD. A couple of hours bashing into major wind and waves made us change our destination to the Rhodes River. A real pretty and protected spot that local cruisers have their raft-ups at.
When we left the next day it was still a little breezy but nowhere near as bad and we made good time to Solomans Island. Motoring some because of the wind direction but we also had some nice sailing time. Happy. We anchored in a spot we used in the springtime where there is room for 2 or 3 boats. Within a few hours we were surrounded by 9 or 10 boats. Way too many. Way too close. We even asked one for their insurance information because of where they anchored and the weather forecast. For some reason they moved off to a mooring. Might have been something I said. Besides us there was one US registered boat (that stayed), one Australian and the rest were Canadians. I might have posted something unflattering about Canadians on Facebook being a little frustrated with their anchoring choices. I know Canadians. Canadians are nice. I'm sure they contribute to our economy travelling to the US. But.... do they have to anchor SO DAMN CLOSE???
Whoops. There I go again. Sorry. BTW: the boat I shamed into moving was from Massachusetts. Definitely not Canadians.
We had a very nice sail to Deltaville, VA and anchored next to Canadians. We made sure not to be too close and that made them (and us) friendly.
From Deltaville we planned to go to Hampton, VA but we've had the current with us for several morning departure passages and made good time to Hampton Roads where we decided to brave the Norfolk traffic and military restrictions to head into the ICW. Just barely made some last of the day bridge openings which caused some tension but... here we are! In the long ditch. Heading to Coinjock next to do laundry and then across Albermarle Sound in NC. We're actually waiting an extra day here (where it's free) to time crossing Albermarle Sound in safer conditions. Coinjock docking is definitely not free.
Did I mention we like free? We spent multiple thousands of dollars in maintenance and repairs in the last few weeks. Some planned. Some not. Ahhh, cruising.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Wonderful Weather
We're at a marina near Baltimore waiting to get hauled for annual maintenance. Carol is off on her first week of working. Someplace warmer than here.
As mentioned in my previous post the weather has been unsettled. No major storms but rain, fog, showers nearly every day. Blah.
We left Port Washington 24 September intending to go all the way to Cape May, NJ. Nope. After going under the Narrows-Veranzano Bridge we noticed we were sinking. Not good. We had a leak in a raw water cooling hose. The leak was after the pump so the cooling water was not going through the heat exchanger but into the bilge. In a sailboat raw (salt) water cools the anti-freeze which circulates through the engine. So we limped on one engine into Atlantic Highlands, Sandy Hook, NJ. Three dirty hours of belt changing and hose trimming got us ready to go again the next day.
We headed out about noon on the 25th for a 19 hour overnight passage to Cape May, arriving in the morning of the 26th. It was a mostly calm, non-eventful passage except for fog near the end. That fog kept us in port until the 28th when we headed up Delaware Bay. We had some fog and some showers but mostly it was calm and we had the current the whole way. Only 8 hours in the Bay! That's unbelievably fast! The passage totalled 10 hours and at the end, in Chesapeake City we had dinner with Bob and Jane Fulton and three other couples we met there. Before meeting here Bob and Jane knew only us and us only them. Old friends, new friends, good food, a good time. That's cruising!
Passages to Bodkin Creek went easy just a continuation of the unsettled weather. Hoping it's going to be good for working this coming week in Pasadena, MD.
Photo is from our passage through NYC where Heather took photos of us going by.
As mentioned in my previous post the weather has been unsettled. No major storms but rain, fog, showers nearly every day. Blah.
We left Port Washington 24 September intending to go all the way to Cape May, NJ. Nope. After going under the Narrows-Veranzano Bridge we noticed we were sinking. Not good. We had a leak in a raw water cooling hose. The leak was after the pump so the cooling water was not going through the heat exchanger but into the bilge. In a sailboat raw (salt) water cools the anti-freeze which circulates through the engine. So we limped on one engine into Atlantic Highlands, Sandy Hook, NJ. Three dirty hours of belt changing and hose trimming got us ready to go again the next day.
We headed out about noon on the 25th for a 19 hour overnight passage to Cape May, arriving in the morning of the 26th. It was a mostly calm, non-eventful passage except for fog near the end. That fog kept us in port until the 28th when we headed up Delaware Bay. We had some fog and some showers but mostly it was calm and we had the current the whole way. Only 8 hours in the Bay! That's unbelievably fast! The passage totalled 10 hours and at the end, in Chesapeake City we had dinner with Bob and Jane Fulton and three other couples we met there. Before meeting here Bob and Jane knew only us and us only them. Old friends, new friends, good food, a good time. That's cruising!
Passages to Bodkin Creek went easy just a continuation of the unsettled weather. Hoping it's going to be good for working this coming week in Pasadena, MD.
Photo is from our passage through NYC where Heather took photos of us going by.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
South again
It's our 35th anniversary and we're underway on our second cruise south. We're wondering what will break this cruise. And when.
Mixed weather today but actually got some unexpected sailing in. Motorsailing too, of course, but we didn't expect to put the sails up at all. Forecast for the next few days to a week is for unsettled weather. Not necessarily stormy, just gray and wet.
Today we got some other form of 'yuck'. Bugs. Some kind of flying ant. They just dropped out of the sky, after mating it would seem. Made a mess. Yuck.
The start of this cruise doesn't seem promising.
Mixed weather today but actually got some unexpected sailing in. Motorsailing too, of course, but we didn't expect to put the sails up at all. Forecast for the next few days to a week is for unsettled weather. Not necessarily stormy, just gray and wet.
Today we got some other form of 'yuck'. Bugs. Some kind of flying ant. They just dropped out of the sky, after mating it would seem. Made a mess. Yuck.
The start of this cruise doesn't seem promising.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Storms
We survived Irene!
With all the pre-storm hype and all the actual damage done by Irene we did okay all things considered.
On Friday before the storm I moved Infinite Improbability up the Connecticut River to Hamburg Cove, Old Lyme, CT. I added anti-chafe rags to the anchor rode of Perfectly Normal and let out more scope but we could only protect one of our boats and, of course, chose our home.
Carol drove to my location and then picked up Heather who had to evacuate Brooklyn because of potential flooding. She evacuated the city to come out on a boat during a hurricane. Some might have questioned that wisdom.
Hamburg Cove is part of 8-mile River which is about 8 miles up the CT. River. It is also totally surrounded by land and big trees. About as protected as you can be.
We met two boats with friends aboard there and met new friends who were friends of the other two boat crews. We had a little party aboard our boat on Saturday and agreed to monitor our VHF radio on Sunday in mutual support should anything go amiss.
For us the storm only made us a little nervous, not scared. The wind was around 40 knots (50 mph) so we swung around a bit but it was not violent. The surge was between 4 and 6 feet so there was little danger of our mooring pulling out. The noise from the trees, however, was amazing. The loudest 'white noise' you could imagine.
As I mentioned, we survived.
On Monday after the storm we went back to Mystic and drove to the Old Lyme area and saw how much wind/rain damage was really done. Many trees and power lines down. Electricity was not restored for more than a week.
Other good news: Perfectly Normal survived just fine in Mystic and our house in Wallingford had no damage. Never even lost power. We just had branches and leaves to pick up.
Now if this luck lasts through our upcoming trip back down south for the winter it would be great! Not likely but GREAT!
Departure is scheduled for the third week of September.
With all the pre-storm hype and all the actual damage done by Irene we did okay all things considered.
On Friday before the storm I moved Infinite Improbability up the Connecticut River to Hamburg Cove, Old Lyme, CT. I added anti-chafe rags to the anchor rode of Perfectly Normal and let out more scope but we could only protect one of our boats and, of course, chose our home.
Carol drove to my location and then picked up Heather who had to evacuate Brooklyn because of potential flooding. She evacuated the city to come out on a boat during a hurricane. Some might have questioned that wisdom.
Hamburg Cove is part of 8-mile River which is about 8 miles up the CT. River. It is also totally surrounded by land and big trees. About as protected as you can be.
We met two boats with friends aboard there and met new friends who were friends of the other two boat crews. We had a little party aboard our boat on Saturday and agreed to monitor our VHF radio on Sunday in mutual support should anything go amiss.
For us the storm only made us a little nervous, not scared. The wind was around 40 knots (50 mph) so we swung around a bit but it was not violent. The surge was between 4 and 6 feet so there was little danger of our mooring pulling out. The noise from the trees, however, was amazing. The loudest 'white noise' you could imagine.
As I mentioned, we survived.
On Monday after the storm we went back to Mystic and drove to the Old Lyme area and saw how much wind/rain damage was really done. Many trees and power lines down. Electricity was not restored for more than a week.
Other good news: Perfectly Normal survived just fine in Mystic and our house in Wallingford had no damage. Never even lost power. We just had branches and leaves to pick up.
Now if this luck lasts through our upcoming trip back down south for the winter it would be great! Not likely but GREAT!
Departure is scheduled for the third week of September.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Mini-Cruise
We completed a little cruise out to Nantucket with Heather. We were calling it a vacation cruise, out of habit I guess, but were reminded you can't take a vacation from no job at all. So... Heather's vacation.
I spent a few days solo (with Cleo) at Block Island before heading to Point Judith, RI to pick up Carol, Heather and Luca. This was supposed to also be the WPS summer cruise but the other participants decided not to followed the planned itinerary. We overlapped briefly at Block and met at Cuttyhunk and Oak Bluffs but no one else went to Nantucket. Their loss.
Luca seems to be becoming a little more civilized (a little) and we can pick her up without losing pints of blood. Mellowing. Or dying. Who knows?
Weather was pretty good. Calm to Cuttyhunk but there was a leftover swell from a distant storm. Carol hates this passage. Trip to Oak Bluffs (Ma.) was flat and the passage to Nantucket was nearly so. No sailing. We anchored for two nights there. Moorings are $70 a night there!!!!!! Bike riding and dining were the main things on the itinerary.
The trip back to Martha's Vineyard was uneventful but the trip back to Point Judith was "fun". Strong winds right on the nose. More motoring. And an alternator V-belt broke on the way. Replacing that in rough seas was not fun but we've had to do that before. Experience.
The last evening on this cruise was marked by a visit from 'nephew-in-law' Chris H. and his daughter (our grand-niece) Brooklyn. They seemed to have a great time and were interested in the lifestyle of living and travelling on a boat.
Just a couple of more boating weekends to go before our departure south in late September. Can't wait!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Summer of No Sailing
We getting ready to take a mini-cruise in just a few days. We have hardly used the boat since we've been back in Connecticut.
We've been busy with working on the house, working on our Pearson with a little work on the Dean, too. Family picnics that we used to blow off have also taken up our time. In the past we rarely let these things take away from our boating but now that we're away (on the boat) so much of the year we feel a little obligated.
We did take a little boating trip to Rhode Island for the 4th of July weekend. Dutch Harbor at Jamestown, RI. Motoring all the way as usual then Heather and eight of her friends joined us to view the fireworks display. Unfortunately an hour or so before they arrived the fog rolled in staying a few hundred feet in the air. When fireworks time came we could not see them because the cloud was right at the display altitude. Bummer. We could see the bottom of the bursts and occasionally the top but mostly we missed everything. Sigh.
The trip home on the 4th itself was eventful... of course. Fog. Dense fog. The whole way. Going around Point Judith caused anxiety because of the traffic. We can navigate fine in poor visibility but we worry about the idiots out there that travel at high speeds relying on their radar. Only one encounter as we neared Watch Hill Passage caused any cursing aboard Infinite Improbability. A boat close enough and fast enough to cause a good sized wake. One we never saw, only heard and felt. Crazy.
So that's the summer so far. Not much boating but our cruise starts later this week with hopes of getting out to Nantucket. Going to Nantucket never seems to work out. We've only visited on 20 % of our attempts. And now the first Tropical Storm has formed in the Bahamas. We'll see.
We've been busy with working on the house, working on our Pearson with a little work on the Dean, too. Family picnics that we used to blow off have also taken up our time. In the past we rarely let these things take away from our boating but now that we're away (on the boat) so much of the year we feel a little obligated.
We did take a little boating trip to Rhode Island for the 4th of July weekend. Dutch Harbor at Jamestown, RI. Motoring all the way as usual then Heather and eight of her friends joined us to view the fireworks display. Unfortunately an hour or so before they arrived the fog rolled in staying a few hundred feet in the air. When fireworks time came we could not see them because the cloud was right at the display altitude. Bummer. We could see the bottom of the bursts and occasionally the top but mostly we missed everything. Sigh.
The trip home on the 4th itself was eventful... of course. Fog. Dense fog. The whole way. Going around Point Judith caused anxiety because of the traffic. We can navigate fine in poor visibility but we worry about the idiots out there that travel at high speeds relying on their radar. Only one encounter as we neared Watch Hill Passage caused any cursing aboard Infinite Improbability. A boat close enough and fast enough to cause a good sized wake. One we never saw, only heard and felt. Crazy.
So that's the summer so far. Not much boating but our cruise starts later this week with hopes of getting out to Nantucket. Going to Nantucket never seems to work out. We've only visited on 20 % of our attempts. And now the first Tropical Storm has formed in the Bahamas. We'll see.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Home
We are at our home in Wallingford. It's been almost two weeks. We are making it as sellable as we can (again). A lot of work.
We are also trying to get used to the weather up here again. IT'S AWFUL!!!!! Rain. Rain. Rain. Our backyard is full of water and we actually had a roof leak (minor and fixed). We also have to get our Pearson ready to go in the water and to Mystic. The rain isn't helping.
Let's wrap up the end of our trip north...
We went from the C & D Canal down to Cape May, NJ. It wasn't a bad day even though we left an hour before sunrise. Reasonably calm but we had the main up and had a little help from the wind for a little while. We took a short cut right along the coast of Cape May inshore of the reefs. Even trickier than the stunt we pulled when we were southbound but this time the weather and seas were not too bad. We shouldn't make a habit of this but the time saved is so tempting. Still a long day 0500 to 1600.
After a night at Cape May and getting fuel we went to Atlantic City. Calm weather with storms predicted in a few days. We decided to just stay for lunch and dinner (six hours) and get underway again about 1800.
Seas were calm as we motored along the coast of New Jersey through the night. After a couple of rain drops the sky cleared about 0200 and the stars came out to play. Beautiful! Big 'W' out to remind us of Wallingford and our friends in the Waterbury Power Squadron. Cassiopeia (the big 'W' in the sky) is on the burgee (flag) of our Squadron.
In the morning we approached New York City and went through the Narrows-Verranzano Bridge. A lot of big ship traffic this time but since we were northbound we could get way to the side and stay outside the channel and still be in safe water. The bouyage system also seemed to make more sense or was more readable to us in this direction. The City was beautiful in the blue skies but we arrived later than we hoped and we missed getting the chance to wave to Heather as we went by the Brooklyn and Williamsburg Bridge area. 0 for 2 in these attempts. Since we were late we went through Hell Gate after slack water but had the current with us as planned. A little rough because of the opposing wind but not as bad as it could be. We ended up in Port Washington on Long Island. Back in Long Island Sound! Our home waters once again. We picked up the free mooring we used back the previous September. Full circle.
On Tuesday we headed to Mattituck. We had a great sail most of the way. The wind was NE at 15+kts and we just barely had a sailing angle but it went well. It's just so damn cold. Freezing. Carol has a ton of layers on. At home people are in tee-shirts but we are in a good breeze blowing over 50 degree water. Last week on the Chesapeake we had the same conditions but the water temp was 65 not 50. Big difference in comfort on the water.
Wednesday we motored home to Mystic right into the wind. Seas were not big but it was just miserable. Into the gray. Into the cold wind. 30nm seemed way longer than some of our 60+sm days recently. Statute (sm) miles are quite shorter than Nautical (nm) miles but our last day made nm seem even longer.
But we made it of course. Borrowed a mooring in the Mystic River as we waited for the tide to get higher at our marina and then went and anchored near our mooring. It was occupied by a poacher. Now who would do THAT?
Home again as I said at the beginning. Lots of work to do on the house and the Pearson and little time this summer for cruising. We'll get a little boating in as we prepare to do this all over again in the fall.
CAN'T WAIT.
We are also trying to get used to the weather up here again. IT'S AWFUL!!!!! Rain. Rain. Rain. Our backyard is full of water and we actually had a roof leak (minor and fixed). We also have to get our Pearson ready to go in the water and to Mystic. The rain isn't helping.
Let's wrap up the end of our trip north...
We went from the C & D Canal down to Cape May, NJ. It wasn't a bad day even though we left an hour before sunrise. Reasonably calm but we had the main up and had a little help from the wind for a little while. We took a short cut right along the coast of Cape May inshore of the reefs. Even trickier than the stunt we pulled when we were southbound but this time the weather and seas were not too bad. We shouldn't make a habit of this but the time saved is so tempting. Still a long day 0500 to 1600.
After a night at Cape May and getting fuel we went to Atlantic City. Calm weather with storms predicted in a few days. We decided to just stay for lunch and dinner (six hours) and get underway again about 1800.
Seas were calm as we motored along the coast of New Jersey through the night. After a couple of rain drops the sky cleared about 0200 and the stars came out to play. Beautiful! Big 'W' out to remind us of Wallingford and our friends in the Waterbury Power Squadron. Cassiopeia (the big 'W' in the sky) is on the burgee (flag) of our Squadron.
In the morning we approached New York City and went through the Narrows-Verranzano Bridge. A lot of big ship traffic this time but since we were northbound we could get way to the side and stay outside the channel and still be in safe water. The bouyage system also seemed to make more sense or was more readable to us in this direction. The City was beautiful in the blue skies but we arrived later than we hoped and we missed getting the chance to wave to Heather as we went by the Brooklyn and Williamsburg Bridge area. 0 for 2 in these attempts. Since we were late we went through Hell Gate after slack water but had the current with us as planned. A little rough because of the opposing wind but not as bad as it could be. We ended up in Port Washington on Long Island. Back in Long Island Sound! Our home waters once again. We picked up the free mooring we used back the previous September. Full circle.
On Tuesday we headed to Mattituck. We had a great sail most of the way. The wind was NE at 15+kts and we just barely had a sailing angle but it went well. It's just so damn cold. Freezing. Carol has a ton of layers on. At home people are in tee-shirts but we are in a good breeze blowing over 50 degree water. Last week on the Chesapeake we had the same conditions but the water temp was 65 not 50. Big difference in comfort on the water.
Wednesday we motored home to Mystic right into the wind. Seas were not big but it was just miserable. Into the gray. Into the cold wind. 30nm seemed way longer than some of our 60+sm days recently. Statute (sm) miles are quite shorter than Nautical (nm) miles but our last day made nm seem even longer.
But we made it of course. Borrowed a mooring in the Mystic River as we waited for the tide to get higher at our marina and then went and anchored near our mooring. It was occupied by a poacher. Now who would do THAT?
Home again as I said at the beginning. Lots of work to do on the house and the Pearson and little time this summer for cruising. We'll get a little boating in as we prepare to do this all over again in the fall.
CAN'T WAIT.
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